German raiders improvise around a thin supply base

The Kriegsmarine sat low in Germany's institutional priorities and competed poorly with the army and air force for production and supplies. Hermann Goring's influence over industry and the state's fragmented procurement system worsened the problem. Separate anti-surface and anti-aircraft secondary batteries added complexity to an already strained supply chain. Surface raiders nevertheless used a dispersed network of merchant-like supply vessels, including Altmark supporting Admiral Graf Spee, which were hard to identify across South Atlantic and Indian Ocean shipping. A day-of-month rendezvous scheme directed raiders to a known grid sector without requiring the supply ship to wait in a conspicuous port. Germany had lost yard capacity and stocks after the First World War, and its economy lacked the time and room to accumulate the naval surplus required for a major global campaign. Britain and other opponents could draw on inherited stocks of First World War guns and shells to arm ships such as Flower-class corvettes.